China's internet giant Baidu Inc and TV manufacturer Skyworth Digital Holdings Ltd reached an overall strategic cooperation agreement in the fields of technology, content, data and operations on March 16.

Baidu has invested 1.01 billion yuan ($159.7 million) in Coocaa, a smart television unit owned by Skyworth Digital, as part of the company's wider push into the smart hardware sector.

Baidu's DuerOS conversation-based artificial intelligence system will have a deeper integration with the intelligent home products of Coocaa.

Baidu Inc and Skyworth Digital Holdings Ltd reached an overall strategic cooperation agreement in the fields of technology, content, data and operations on March 16. [Photo/people.cn]

Robin Li, chairman of Baidu, said its DuerOS could change the interaction method between television and humans, as nowadays intelligent TVs can hear, understand and follow users' orders.

"This year marks Skyworth's 20th anniversary and we should actively embrace technology innovation in the AI era. The company is in an important stage for transformation and upgrading," said Huang Hongsheng, founder of Skyworth.

Huang added they will deepen cooperation with Baidu to introduce its DuerOS system, as well as the content resources from iQiyi.com, a video-streaming service provider backed by Baidu.

The principal businesses of Coocaa include smart TV system operations and related value-added services. Coocaa reported a net profit 9.59 million yuan in 2016.

Huang Hongsheng, founder of Skyworth, gives a speech on the company's cooperation with Baidu. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Jing kun, general manager of Baidu's DuerOS sector, said that to make a truly AI TV requires deep integration of software, hardware and content. It also requires open data, close cooperation, and joint research and development.

Statistics from market consultancy Statista revealed that China's smart home market is expected to reach a value of 130 billion yuan by 2018, with an annual growth rate of about 48 percent, a big jump from the 40.3 billion yuan market of 2015.

Robin Li, chairman of Baidu, shows his expectations of the company's cooperation with Skyworth. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]